Stocks Edged Lower after Recent Rally

U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday, following a sharp rally that has taken major indexes to repeated records. The Dow Jones industrial average lately fell 4.59 points, or 0.03%, to 18,049.12. The S&P 500 gained 1.69 points, or 0.08%, to 2,090.46. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.12 points, to 4,806.73.

Billionaire Carl Icahn became the second activist shareholder this year to seek the separation of Manitowoc Co. (MTW:US)’s crane-making and commercial-food appliances divisions.

Cars.com said Monday it expects December light, new-vehicle sales of 1.51 million units, up 11.3% from a year ago to mark the highest level since Dec. 2006.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and several of its clients stand to lose hundred of millions of dollars from a loan made to Banco Espírito Santo SA just weeks before the Portuguese lender collapsed in August, after the Bank of Portugal said the claim won’t be honored by Novo Banco, the “good bank” carved out of BES.